Harpoon gun



Patented June 16,l 1953 HARPOON GUN RalphE. Har-riaLongBeach, Calf.,:assignor`to FrankA. Pachmayr, CulverfCity, Calif. @Applicatinnfsepiember 1, 1950,1'serialNo-18av1v v (omai-11) 2 Claims.

This inventionrelates to improvements in 'guns and, more particularl'g/,Jto improvements in guns kwhich utilize asource of Icompressed fluid to Aprovide the activating energy by means of which "a Y projectile'may be expelled from the gun.

Although my invention is described `as l'embodied in 4a `gun of the aforementioned type designed to be utilized in conjunction 'with a harpoon, it is conceivable that it may be used with projectiles other than harpoons, such 'as 1brass balls, bullets, etc. Pneumatically 'operated guns of the conventional type usually include a housing consisting of a plurality of essential elements such as a wooden stock attached to ametal receiver and a barrel fixed, by any suitable means, in said receiver. Since such guns must, yof necessity, because of the weight and 'size of the projectile,

be considerably .larger than conventional guns,

the bulk and weight of'previously designed pneumatically activated guns have been factors preventing their general acceptance for use in life saving and other activities.

It is, therefore, a primary object of my invention to provide a pneumatically activated gun of the aforementioned type which consists ofa minimum number of light weightcomponent parts and which isso constructed that the gun can be easily handled and aimed.

Another object of my invention is the provision f Conventional pneumatically activated guns are Y 'usually energized by means of fluid from -an internal fluid puinpingsystem, the inclusion of such pumping' system materially increasing the over- 'ail weight and bulk of thegun. A few guns, however, have been provided with activating iiuid from an external source. However, no consideration has been given to the manner in which the uid was conducted to the discharge valve of such guns and the lines carrying the iiuid to the guns have frequentlybeen so disposed as to materially interfere with the aiming of the gun. Y

An additional object ofV my invention is the provision of a pneumatically activated gun of the aforementioned type which is designed to be energized by a remotely positioned v.power source and 2 y in wh'ichthe line vconducting the 'compressed gas used las 'a source-ofpower is disposed Vintermediatethe stockiand the'barrel of the nim t0 DIOVdB a better balanced gun andto eliminatethe possibility that lthe line may interferewith the aiming formed therewith a depending hand grip portion which Ais associated with the aforementioned valve chamber portion of fthe housing to .permit the l utilization 'of the Ahand grip to' support and "aim the gun 'and also as a means lfor introducing the gas conducting jline to the discharge valve of the gun.

Since the projectiles iired'fro'm the 'gun are 'gen- Vierally utilized to convey one end of a line to a remote point, support means for the line'mu'stb'e of a lsupport 'means 'for the line associated with the projectile fired from the gun which consists of an elongated spindle adapted to be secured to the barrel of the 'gun with its axis substantially parallel with the axis of said barrel.

A further object of my invention `is the provision or a pneumatically activated gun which is simple in construction and which is capable of sustaining a great deal of vabuse without materially affecting the operation or accuracy thereof.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from'the following specification and the accompanying drawing which is for the purpose of illustration only and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a gun constructed in accordance Awith my invention;

Fig. 2 'is a vertical 'sectional'view taken on the broken line 2 2 of Fig. V3i l Fig.l Y3 is a transverse, partly sectional view Staken on theV broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 i's a transverse, partly sectional view taken on the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, longitudinal cross section showing the elastic retainer of my invention and taken on the Vbroken line al- 5 of Fig. l. Y Referring to the drawing and particularly to Fig. l thereof, I show a gun ID adapted tobe pneumatically activated from a remote source, not shown, and ydesigned to discharge a projectile, such as a harpoon 45, over a substantial distance. The gun li) includes a unitary housing Il which is preferably cast or otherwise formedV from metal and which includes a stock portion I2, a valve chamber portion I3 and a barrel receiving portion I4. The fact that the housing II is formed in one piece materially reduces the complexity and thus the cost of assembling the gun and also is a considerable factor in reducing the over-all weight and bulk of the gun.

Secured to the end of the Istock I 2 is a resilient recoil pad I5 which is 'adapted to absorb the recoil encountered when the gun is discharged. Formed integrally with the Valve chamber portion I3 of the housing II and depending therefrom is a hand grip portion I1 which may be gripped by one of the hands of the user of the gun to enable him to sustain the: gunin'nring position. The considerable weight of' such 'guns as these has been a factor. in reducing the .accuracy of re thereof since it is very difcult to support them in firing and aiming positionby holding the stock against the shoulder and by gripping the barrel `of the gun, as is done with conventional light weight guns. The hand grip `l1 provides an auxiliary means for supporting of the barrel 22 is provided with a front sight f.

24 to facilitate the aiming of the gun.

The rearward end of the lbarrel 22 abuts a wall 25 which divides the longitudinal recess 2! from the valve chamber i9, said wall having an opening 21 formed therein. Pressed into the rearward end of the barrel 22 adjacent the wall 25 is a plug 2B which has an opening 29 which is concentric with and communicates with the opening 21 in the wall 25.

The opening 29 in the plug 28 is threaded and is adapted to receive yone end of a nipple 3l which projects through an opening 21 in the wall 25 and has mounted upon its opposite end a valve body 32 which encloses a conventional poppet valve mechanism, not shown.

Projecting from the under side of the valve body 32 is a plunger 33 which is adapted, when driven upwardly, to operate the poppet mechanism, not shown, housed in the valve body 32 in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

Supported upon the under side of the valve body 32 by means ofY a nut 34 is a mounting bracket 35 which includes two spaced depending ears 36 between which extends a pivot pin 31. Pivotally mounted by'its upper end upon the pin 31 is a trigger 3S having a vworking face `35 adapted to engage the lowermost end of the plunger 33 projecting from the valve body 32. The lower end of the trigger 38 projects outwardly through anopening 4I! formed in the under side of the valve chamber portion I3 into the space defined by the trigger guard I 8. Thus, when the lower portion of the trigger is yurged rearwardly, the working `face 33 of the trigger 38 is ycarried upwardly as the upper end of the trigger pivots upon the pin 31 to drive the plunger 33 into the valve body 321l to actuate the valve mechanism thereof.

The manner in which the valve `body 32 is suspended in the valve chamber 18 diSpenSeS trigger.

A tubing 4I is connected to the input side of l .the valve body 32, it being understood that the discharge side of said valve body is 'connected to the nipp1e3I to permit the discharge of Vcompressed gas into the interior yof the barrel 22 to cause the expulsion therefrom of the harpoon or any similar missile. The lower end of the tubing 4I passes through an opening 42 in the under side of the hand grip I1 and terminates in a swivel coupling 43 which is connected by means of a exible tubing 44 to a. source `of compressed gas, not shown, such as a small cylinder of carbon dioxide. The fact that the input tubing 4I passes upwardly through the hand grip Il' into the valve chamber I9 at a point which is substantially the center of gravity of the gun, prevents the flexible tubing 44 and the container, not shown, suspended from said flexible tubing from -obstructing the aim of the user of the gun or from unbalancing the gun.

Attached to the forward end of the harpoon 45 is a line 45 which is'adapted to be coiled and supported upon a line support 4B attached to the barrel 22 of the gun. The line support 48 includes a substantially annular clamp 45 having depending legs 5IJ which terminate in a seat 5I Supported upon the seat 5l is a nut 52 which engages the lower end of a lead screw 53, the upper end of which is rotatable in .a socket 54 which constitutes a portion of an arcuate clamping member 55. When the lead screw 53 is rotatedl in such a manner that the clamping member 55 is urged upwardly by the upward movement of the lead screw, the clamp 49 is securely fastened to the barrel 22 of the gun. Mounted upon the'nut 52 or formed integrally therewith is an elongated spindle 51 over which the line is l-coped. To prevent the line 46 from falling Vfrom the spindle 51 there is provided a retainer means 59 which includes a transverse slot 5t formed in the forward end of the spindle 51 and a transverse slot 5Ir formed in the back of the nut 52. An elastic band 63 is positioned in the slots 50 and 5I and holds the line 46 on the spindle 51. When the gun is fired the harpoon 45 draws the line from the spindle and releases the band 53.

The line support 48 dispenses with the use oi conventional complicated reels and permits the line 43 to be easily withdrawn as the projectile ies through the air subsequent to its discharge from the gun'.

I thus provide by my invention a pneumatically operated gun which is characterized by extreme lightness and small bulk and which is characterized by simple Valve and trigger mountings. In addition, the unitary housing of the gun, which is an important feature thereof, is provided with a centrally located depending hand grip portion which serves as an additional means of supporting thegun during the aiming and firing processes. Also provided by my gun is a simple and light weight line supporting means from which the line can be readily withdrawn during the flight of the projectile.

Although I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention for the purpose of illustrating the manner of construction and mode of operation thereof, it is obvious that changes, alterations and modications may be made in the specific details of said construction and I, therefore, prefer not to be limited to the specic details but rather to be afforded the full scope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a gun adapted to be utilized in conjunction with a projectile having a line attached thereto and relying for its activating energy upon an externally positioned container of pressurizing uid, the combination of: a unitary metallic housing including a stock portion, a valve chamber and a barrel receiving portion, said valve chamber having integrally formed therewith and depending therefrom a hand grip portion which communicates with its interior and said barrel receiving portion having an elongated cavity formed therein communicating with said valve chamber; a barrelv supported in said cavity having an apertured plug mounted in the rearward end thereof; a valve positioned in said valve chamber and supported by said plug; a line support mounted upon said barrel and having an elongated, resilient loop means encompassing the loops of said line to maintain them on said support; and a trigger having its upper end pivotally mounted upon said valve for operating said Vvalve located in said valve chamber and projecting downwardlytherefrom to the exterior of said housing.

2. In a gun adapted to be utilized in conjunction with a projectile having a line attached thereto and relying for its activatingenergy uponvan externally positioned container of pressurized 6 uid, the combination of: a unitary metallic housing including a stock portion, a valve chamber and a barrel receiving portion, said valve chamber having integrally formed therewith and depending therefrom a hand grip portion which communicates with its interior and said barrel receiving portion having an elongated cavity formed therein communicating with said valve chamber; a barrel supported in said cavity hav' ing an apertured plug' mounted in the rearward end thereof; a valve positioned in said valve chamber and supported by said plug; a line support mounted upon said barrel, said line support including an elongated spindle having its axis parallel with that of said barrel adapted to receive said line and retaining means for holding said line on said spindle, said retaining means being constituted by an elongated, elastic loop extending from one end of the spindle to the other end and encompassing the bights of the line supported upon said spindle; and a trigger having its upper end pivotally mounted upon said valve for operating said valve located in said valve chamber and projecting downwardly therefrom to the exterior of said housing.

RALPH E. HARRIS.

References Cited in the fue of this patent UNITED STATES PA'IENTS Number Name Date 627,320 Benjamin June 20, 1899 749,519 Benjamin Jan. 12, 1904 1,404,689 Fairweather Jan. 24, 1922 1,854,605 Tratsch Apr. 19, 1932 2,090,731 Klein Aug. 24, 1937 2,304,841 Mikkelsen Dec. 15, 1942 2,504,525 Holderness Apr. 18, 1950 

